Rams know expectations will be higher in 2018 after historic awards sweep

Tom Brady may have won NFL MVP, and the Saints may have swept the Rookie of the Year awards, but no team had a better night on Saturday than the Los Angeles Rams. They owned three major awards, showing how talented they are in three very important areas: offense, defense and coaching.

The night began with Aaron Donald winning Defensive Player of the Year, followed by Todd Gurley taking home Offensive Player of the Year. Sean McVay finished off the sweep with Coach of the Year – the youngest in NFL history – giving the Rams three major award winners in one night.

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That’s all well and good, and it’s a testament to how good the Rams were in 2017, but they didn’t win the most important trophy: The Lombardi.

Their work is hardly finished despite putting together a remarkable season, and they’re well aware of that. After taking the NFL by storm last year, the Rams know their expectations will be even higher in 2018.

“You don’t want to go backwards, so we just got to keep working hard,” Gurley said during his press conference. “Just get better every day and just have that one goal in mind that everybody has and that’s to be playing (this weekend), instead of talking to you guys.”

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Donald, who became the first player in franchise history to win Defensive Player of the Year, realizes just how great of a season the Rams had in 2017. He knows how dominant he was in the 14 games he played, but he’s not ready to stop there.

Getting comfortable is the last thing he wants to do.

“It was definitely a solid season,” Donald said, “but you always want to do more. That’s the best thing about this game: you can’t be comfortable. Once you get comfortable, that’s when you’re no longer good.”

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McVay, the leader behind it all, will be at the forefront of the expectations next season. He won’t let his players get complacent after winning 11 games in 2017.

He’s well aware of the increased expectations, and he fully expects to meet them next season. If they do, the Rams could very well be playing for a Super Bowl like the Patriots and Eagles are on Sunday.

“What it means is we had a good season that I think we can build on, but everything is earned in this league,” McVay said. “Just because we won the division last year doesn’t mean anything going into next year. I know there will be some raised expectations, but we love that and we won’t shy away from them.”

With an NFC West title, Coach of the Year and two Players of the Year, the Rams are among the favorites heading into 2018 — and not to just win the division, to win the Super Bowl.

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